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Dustin Hoffman Accused of Sexual Assault & Harassment

New allegations of sexual misconduct against Dustin Hoffman have come to light, claiming the actor exposed himself to a minor and sexually assaulted two other women. These allegations come in the wake of three other women recently accusing Hoffman of misconduct.

Reports of misconduct against Hoffman originated in October, when a production assistant on Death of a Salesman alleged that Hoffman assaulted her when she was 17. Kathryn Rossetter, Hoffman's co-star in Death of a Salesman, also alleged Hoffman groped and assaulted her during the play's production. Hoffman has denied any misconduct.

Now, even more women are coming forward with strikingly similar stories. Per a report in Variety, three woman have come forward with allegations against the Rain Man actor. Cori Thomas, a classmate of Hoffman's daughter, alleges the actor exposed himself to her in 1980, when she was 16 years old. He then made Thomas massage his feet, and made lewd comments toward her. Melissa Kester, who was the girlfriend of a crew member on the Hoffman film Ishtar, alleges Hoffman put his hands down her pants in a sound booth between audio takes in 1987 and harassed her afterwards. Another anonymous woman, who was an extra in Ishtar, alleges a similar assault to what Kester experienced.

Hoffman has been steadfast in his denial of any wrongdoing, which he most publicly addressed in a now infamous confrontation with John Oliver during a Q&A at a screening of Hoffman's film Wag the Dog. The palpably uncomfortable exchange saw Oliver hammering Hoffman on the allegations, to which the actor grew increasingly hostile.

Hoffman is just the latest Hollywood power player to be facing allegations of seemingly serial sexual misconduct in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. After accusations of sexual harassment and assault were levied against Kevin Spacey, he was fired from his Netflix series House of Cards and replaced by Christopher Plummer in the film All The Money In The World. When longstanding rumors of misconduct against Louis CK were finally confirmed, the comedian's relationships with HBO and FX were terminated and his film I Love You, Daddy had its release cancelled. Directors Brett Ratner and James Toback have also been accused of serial harassment and assault, and their futures in Hollywood seem tenuous at best.

Hoffman is perhaps the biggest name currently implicated in the current wave of sexual predation allegations. The 80 year old actor is something akin to Hollywood royalty, having starred in some of the most beloved films of all time over six decades. Many of the women now accusing him of assault credit their past silence to Hoffman's power and influence, the fear of his ability to potentially end their careers. It's a tragically familiar narrative, and if there's a silver lining to any of this, it's that people are beginning to confront this sort of behavior even when it comes from the most powerful people in the industry.